Hyderabad: The TRS Serilingampally MLA Arekapudi Gandhi asserted that those who have come to Telangana from Pakistan, Rajasthan or any other place would not be sent back at any cost.
Addressing a group of Muslims on Thursday, he asked them not to worry about the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) as the TRS government opposed it.
“No one will be sent back to their ancestral place as long as I am alive,” Gandhi said. He assured them that the Telangana government would never trouble its people by asking them to leave India. He implored them to reach out to TRS leaders if they faced any issue due to the CAA.
The BJP in Telangana took a strong exception to the TRS MLA’s comments. The party leaders lodged a complaint to the police. Responding to their initial reaction, Gandhi added that his remarks were taken out of context to rake up a controversy.
When mentioning that the BJP leaders were going around the Serilingampally constituency conducting an ‘internal survey’ on CAA, he urged people not to accept forms for this review.
A video of Gandhi addressing Muslims went viral over social media on Thursday. Gandhi told the Express News Service that he tried to instill confidence among Muslims by giving them certain assurances regarding the CAA.
He said they mistook a survey being conducted on adult education as an NRC survey. “That’s why they called on me,” he added. Elaborating on those taking objection to his Pakistan comment, he stated, “Some thought I only talked about Pakistan but my statement was general in nature.”
Meanwhile, BJP convenor in Serilingampally, P. Butchi Reddy and other party leaders lodged a complaint against Gandhi with Kukatpally police for his controversial comments.
They alleged that the TRS MLA sought to sow communal discord among people. They requested the police to take action against Gandhi under sedition laws.
Gandhi’s statement was a clear instance of misleading the innocent minority community by creating false fear in them, the BJP leaders complained. When the Express News Service contacted Kukatpally Circle Inspector B. Laxminarayana Reddy, he said they are taking legal opinion regarding the complaint.